The Captive Princess
by Lily6005
Summary: Myrcella is captured along with Jaime by the Starks on her way to Casterly Rock. AU (I'm also messing with ages). Robb/Myrcella
1. Chapter 1

In the TV show Robb is about 20 so I made Myrcella about 16. She was heading to Casterly Rock for safe keeping.

"Uncle Jaime, why is it taking so long to get to Casterly Rock?" Myrcella asked, a whining note in her voice as she brushed through her hair one night at camp. It was so tangled from the ride that she struggled with getting the brush through it where she sat on her cot with her legs folded beneath her like a child as she sat there in her shift. "I know we're not going directly there. I do know which way is west and east."

"Cella, there are plenty of enemies between us and Casterly Rock." Jaime told her. "And I have more things to do than get you safely there."

"Mother said you were going to see me there." Myrcella said. "I do not like traveling on horseback. By ship is much nicer for me."

"You should have told your mother that." Jaime told her. "Then you would be in a ship right now instead of a tent with soldiers."

"Yes, and how am I supposed to feel safe here?" Myrcella demanded. "In the open, I thought there was war going on with the North...the stories I've heard..."

"Don't you worry, Myrcella," Jaime said. "You have the best fighter in all of the seven kingdoms protecting you."

Myrcella looked up at him, her green eyes large. She looked just like her mother did at her age. "Robb Stark hasn't lost a battle."

"You met the boy a few years ago, do you really think he could beat me?" Jaime asked.

"Maybe not. But his wolf could. They were large as puppies, Uncle. I don't like thinking about you out here. Or Tyrion, wherever he is now."

"He is with your grandfather. There is nothing to worry about." He told her. "Now go to sleep. We have another long day ahead of us."

Myrcella stared at her uncle for a moment, before she plaited her hair. "I'm still worried. If mother felt the need to send me away, it can't be safe there, can it?"

"She's just making sure her only daughter is safe." Jaime said. "And I am the only one she trusts to get you there."

Myrcella pouted. "I still say a ship would have been easier. There are no armies that way."

"But there are Iron Islanders. Ships from the Free cities. Ships from Dorne." Jaime listed.

"I get it." Myrcella said. "I understand. People want to kill me. They don't know me, but they want to kill me."

"They don't want to kill you." Jaime said. "If they have any mind for war they'll want to ransom you, but even then that doesn't mean you'll be safe."

"You mean they would rape me?" Myrcella asked. "I know. Mother told me."

"So you know how serious this is." Jaime told her. "Now go to sleep. I have a meeting to go to." He said before sweeping out of the tent.

"Goodnight to you too." Myrcella said softly, before getting under the blankets on her cot. She didn't want to go to sleep, but she did know better than to think the next day would be easier than today.

It was cold out-or it was cold to her. She was used to the heat of King's Landing. The stone around her reverberating the heat back at her so it was hitting her at all sides. She curled under the blankets, her legs sore from the ride. She fell asleep quickly, far quicker than she imagined, and when she awoke she heard yelling and running around outside.

Myrcella's blood ran cold. She knew better than to think those yells were of joy or celebration. She reached for the dress she had worn yesterday, where a dagger was. A dagger Jaime had given her when they began moving west. As she shifted her clothes around, trying to find the metal, and not cloth she saw someone walk in. A man she did not know just as her fingers grasped around the hilt. She took it from its sheath and held it before her. He wasn't one of the Lannister men. He couldn't be. He was Northern, with his dark armor and his face covered with a helmet.

"Stay away from me." Myrcella said, her voice strong, but as she stepped back she stumbled slightly.

"I didn't know that Lannister kept a whore with him." The man said, pointing his sword at her. "Put the dagger down."

"I am not a whore." Myrcella said, but she didn't know if she should say who she is-she didn't know how her fate would change with her name.

"Doesn't matter." He said, stepping towards her as other men entered the tent, dressed similarly to the first man in her tent.

"We have the Kingslayer." One of them said. "Now get the girl and let's get out of here."

One of them jumped towards her, and she jumped back, only knowing that the point of the dagger was to go into the one attacking her. She didn't see any open skin on this one, but he did have a sword-unlike her.

"K-keep your distance." She told him. Her hand that held the dagger was shaking as she stood there in her shift. Hair from her braid falling out around her face.

The soldier grabbed her wrist easily enough, and twisted it behind her back, before hitting her in the head with the hilt of her sword, hard. Everything went black for Myrcella.

Myrcella awoke being carried over a man's shoulder. Her wrists were bound together, hanging below her head, which was throbbing in pain. She needed to get away. She needed to get home.

She didn't know exactly what to do other than her legs were being held rather tightly. She did have the strength to straighten her body. She just hoped that would be enough to make him stumble or something.

So she straightened herself, surprising the soldier enough for him to let her legs go and cry out, before letting her stumble to the ground. Her wrists were wrapped together, so she hit him across the face with both of them before turning and running.

"You bitch!" The soldier said, as more than just him went in pursuit of the young princess.

XXX

It was the commotion that caught Robb's attention, not the girl, but the blur of gold and white running towards him. The men were yelling, calling out bets on who could get the girl first. When they caught the girl, she fought back, hitting them where metal did not cover them. She screamed as two men took her shoulders, and a third grabbed her hair which hung loose around her in a light golden curtain.

"What is this?" Robb demanded walking towards them. Even from a distance, he knew the girl. He didn't know where, not until he got closer to her.

"We found the whore in the Kingslayer's tent, your grace." Said the man holding her hair as she struggled, forcing her on her knees.

"She's not a whore." Robb told them. "She's Myrcella Baratheon." He stared into her green eyes, who glared daggers at him.

She continued struggling against the three men, her breasts pressing against her dirty shift as she struggled, showing that she was not a girl anymore. "Where is my uncle? What have you done with him?" She demanded.

"Let her go." Robb said. "She will not run."

The three men let her go, and she rose to her feet slowly, with the grace her mother taught her to. She knew she was a prisoner now, but she also knew that she may be able to get away given the chance. Her mother would want her back home after this. Her mother would want her no matter what she had to do to return.

"It's been a long time, Robb Stark." She said. "I never expected to see you again. Maybe at your sisters wedding, but never like this."

"What are you doing in a war camp?" Robb asked her.

"Well, I was sleeping until your men awoke me." Myrcella said, though her voice was a bit stressed she didn't sound unpleasant. "And I'm sorry to say they did not allow me to get dressed before hitting me in the head and knocking me out. Now, where is my uncle?"

"He is being taken to his confines." Robb told her.

"And will I be given the same ones? To freeze in the elements?" She asked. "If you are to use me for ransom, that would not work in your favor."

"Why are you here, Myrcella?" He asked her.

"I believe I am still a princess, even if I do not look like one right now." She told him, though she was a small woman, she stood tall, with her shoulders back and her head high.

"Princess Myrcella, then. What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"I am your prisoner. That does not mean I have to speak." She held out her wrists to him. "I am yours."

XXX

Catelyn Stark sought Myrcella out the moment she knew of her existence, walking into a guarded tent while she was washing the mud from her skin from her chase. She even was able to get the dirt from her hair,

"How are my daughters?" Catelyn demanded, surprising Myrcella, and making her jump.

"Seven hells." She swore, a hand going to her chest. "Here I was promised that I could clean and dress in peace."

"Tell me how my daughters are, Myrcella." Catelyn told her, with the fierceness Myrcella saw in her mother when her children were involved.

Myrcella turned away from Catelyn as she finished scrubbing dirt off her hands. "Sansa is alive. Joffery isn't kind, but she is safe, for now. I don't know about Arya. I have not seen her since my father died."

"Arya isn't there? Your mother lied."

Myrcella's eyes widened-she didn't know she was saying anything that they didn't already know. She cursed herself. Too late now. She turned to face Catelyn. "She is not at Red Keep. I saw Sansa often, and Arya too, but not after my father died. I have seen Sansa since then." Myrcella didn't see a need to lie after that. She already gave everything up, might as well give the woman the truth of her daughter. "I am sorry."

"And what would your mother do to my daughter after she finds out that I have you?"

Myrcella paused, thinking of the beautiful red haired girl back at Red Keep. The girl who her brother was trying to break. "I suggest your son tells her that what Joffery does to her he will do to me. That will keep your daughter safer than anything else."

"Believe me, I will make sure that happen if they touch my daughter." Catelyn told her.

"Then you best make me bleed." Myrcella said, not frightened. "Joffery made of the Kingsguard hit her and her lip bled."

Catelyn seemed surprised that she spoke so defiantly. "I think you have more things to fear than me. Get dressed."

Cooler than ever, Myrcella walked to where one of her gowns was, and slowly put it on, thankful the laces were in the front before she pulled on her riding boots. "What are you going to do to me?"

"It is not my choice. It is Robb's." Catelyn told her. "I will only take you to him.

Myrcella's hair was wet, and dampened her dress, giving her a chill when she followed Catelyn out of the tent. "And what will he do to me?"

"He will probably be kinder to you than your brother was to his sister." Catelyn told her.

"That is not a comfort to me."

"It was not supposed to be."

"As long as my uncle is still alive I will be fine." Myrcella said, her voice calm though her heart was beating out of her chest. She wasn't wearing a corset-she wasn't able to, not in here. At least the top of her dress was tight to keep her breasts in check, but it all just felt a bit wrong.

She knew the man who held her captive. They were younger then, but they had spoken before. She was at Winterfell long before all this happened. She wanted to believe that nothing was going to happen to her. That they would still see her as the child she used to be, and now how she grew up. She knew she could easily be raped, but she didn't think she would be killed-she was too valuable. Her mother would get her back, and her Uncle Jaime. She had to.

But her mother was the one that sent her away in the first place.

_"__I don't want you to go, but you will be safer at Casterly Rock than you are here."_

_"__But are you safe here?" Myrcella asked._

_"__As safe as I can be. I cannot leave, sweet girl, I am regent."_

_"__Why can't I stay with you?" Myrcella asked._

_Cersei frowned, as she took Myrcella's hands in hers. "Because of all the things I need, I need you to be safe, and after all this is over you will come back here."_

_Myrcella paused. "Are you sending me off to be married?" _

_"__No." Cersei said. "I would not do that to you. You are not something to be traded. Not to me."_

A part of Myrcella now wished that she was sent to marry someone-then she wouldn't be taken captive, even if she was to marry a stranger. Then again...she didn't know if she would be safe there either. Her mother had taught her that.

Myrcella was brought into a tent, where Northern men stood around a table. Myrcella felt as if she was on a trial. For what, she did not know. She knew she couldn't have hurt anyone. The worst any of the soldiers got from her was a bruise. She was on trial for being a princess. She was on trial for being Joffery's sister.

"What were you doing in the war camp?" Robb demanded again.

Myrcella stared at him, completely emotionless. "I told you, I was sleeping. Ask your soldiers that found me, I'm sure they'll tell you exactly how they found me."

"But why were you there?" Robb demanded.

"Seemed like a good time to go camping." Myrcella said. She didn't exactly know why she shouldn't tell him, but she already messed up about Arya not being in King's Landing. She didn't know if she was going to give anything else away. Not to the people who had held both her uncles at some time, and wanted her family dead.

"Do you really think we are not going to find out?" Asked a bearded greying man.

Myrcella stayed quiet, staring at the older man.

"Put her in a cage until she is ready to talk." Robb said. "On her own, mind you. We don't need the same treatment given to my sisters."

One of the men that stood before her, a younger one, one that Myrcella recognized as well; Theon Greyjoy. He took her by the arm, and she did not struggle as he led her out of the tent.

"May I see Jaime?" She asked as politely as she could.

"No."

"Please?" She asked. "I just want to see that he is all right. I won't try anything." She didn't even know how she could try something. She wasn't strong enough to know someone out with a single strike. She wasn't strong enough to run out of the camp with no supplies, and no protection. She had never been without a member of the Kingsguard at her side, and now the only member was in a cage.

"No."

"You know me, Theon." She said. "Do you really think I have the capabilities to cause trouble?"

He looked down at her, the princess with the big innocent green eyes. "Yes, I do."


	2. Chapter 2

Myrcella sat in her dirt-floored cell with her knees pressed to her chest, shivering as the sun went down. She had things yelled at her by the soldiers. She ignored it, though she had never been yelled at like that before. Not with such disrespect. She was very sheltered inside her castle, she just didn't know how sheltered until now.

"You cold, Princess?" Shouted one soldier at her. "Come closer to the side and I'll be sure to warm you up!"

Myrcella didn't look at him, she didn't take her eyes of a pebble on her cell that she had been staring at for a while now, drifting in and out of consciousness, though every time she dreamed, she prayed she would wake up in her feather bed in Red Keep.

Slowly, as the hour got later, and ventured into early morning, Myrcella stiffly began moving, looking for a way out of her cell besides the door that was locked. She found a loose wooden post, and began wiggling it until it came out of the ground. It was rather heavy, but Myrcella could deal with the weight, but the opening wasn't big enough for her to get out yet, and the camp was awakening. She put the post back, making it as loose as it could be with it still standing straight.

Myrcella crawled back to the middle of the cage, and curled up on her side and closing her eyes before falling asleep, exhaustion finally coming over her.

She was awoken some time later when some man shoved a skin full of water in the cage, as the day progressed she was taken from the cage and brought back to the men who put her in there and forced her in a chair in front of a table. There was an inkwell with a quill and a piece of parchment in front of her.

"We need you to write a letter to the Queen Regent." Said the boy king in front of her.

"And what would you like me to say?" She asked him, her face schooled.

"That you and your uncle are alive, and that we are treating you well for now." He told her.

It was a threat to her mother, and to her. She sighed before taking the quill in her hands and writing _Mother _on the top before pausing and looking up at him.

"How do I know my uncle is alive?" She demanded. "I have not seen him since he left me in that tent over a day ago." She put down the quill, and leaned back in her chair. "I will not write another word until I see him."

She knew they were all upset by that. Frustrated by the princess who was so naïve to many things, but was not so trusting as they assumed.

"Or I could just write about myself, but I think my mother would like to know about her brother as well. I know I would like to hear if Tommen was alive." She didn't mention Joffery, because she honestly did not like him too much. He was never nice to her.

"Let her see her uncle, then." Robb said. "Lord Karstark, I believe you can see to this." He gave the older grey haired and bearded man a look, as if telling him more than he said aloud.

Myrcella stood, hoping mostly that she would find out where her uncle was. If she was able to get herself out, if she got him out they could both escape. He would be able to keep her safe-he was always able to keep her out of trouble. He would get them somewhere safe.

She followed the older man through the camp, trying to memorize the way from the tent. She was good at remembering things, and it was easy for her to understand that her uncle was in the middle of the camp. That wouldn't be good to get out of there, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.

"Uncle!" Myrcella cried, running ahead of the man to see her uncle. Like her, he was in his own tent, unlike her, who only had a bump on her head, Jaime was rather bruised with dried blood on his lip.

"Cella." He struggled against his bonds, getting closer to the bars. "What have they done with you?"

"Nothing." She told him. "I'm in a cage like you, but besides a bump on the head I'm fine. What have they done to you?"

"That's enough, girl." Karstark said. "King Robb said you could see him not speak to him."

"Two sentences aren't going to break down the camp, ser." Myrcella said, reaching through the bars to touch her uncle's black eye lightly. "They want me to write to Mother."

"Then you should. She will trade you for one of the Stark girls." Jaime said. "You do not need to be here."

"I know." Myrcella said. "But what of you?"

"That is not something you should be worried about." Jaime said. "I will be fine, Cella."

"That's enough." Karstark said, taking the girl by the arm, and pulling her to her feet.

"Don't touch her." Jaime said, his voice low.

"Or what, Kingslayer?" Karstark asked. "You'll stare at me?"

Myrcella needed to give him a sign to be ready. She just couldn't be obvious. "I'll see you soon." She told him, before letting herself be dragged away by the much older, much stronger man.

When she returned to the tent, she wrote the letter, but not without comment.

"I knew you when you were younger, Robb. I always thought you kind." She said. "I hate being wrong."

"Oh, I was kind, Princess, but your family killed my father."

"Your family kidnapped my uncle, and your father betrayed my family." Myrcella said. "In case you did not know, I had nothing to do with anything."

"But your family did."

"So just like Joffery punishes Sansa you will punish me?" Myrcella asked. "At least Sansa has a bed to sleep on and maids to attend her. I have a cell with a dirt ground in the cold. I have been knocked out cold and taken from my bed. I have been bound and chased. I have bruises on my arms from being dragged from place to place."

"Are you calling me your brother?"

"Perhaps." Myrcella said. "You never liked him. I know that much." She said as she signed her name on the last bit of paper and looked up at Robb, almost challenging him.

"Karstark, please see the princess back to her cage." Robb said, not looking away from her.

"Hear something you didn't like?" Myrcella asked, though she stood anyway. She wasn't going to fight him.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It has been pointed out that I have not said if Myrcella knows about her true parentage. She does not, just as she does not know in canon. Thank you to my reviewers, favoriters, and followers!**

**Lily**

**XXX**

It was much colder than it was the previous night, and the wind much harsher. Myrcella could barely feel her fingers as she removed the posts and squeezed through the hole. She couldn't feel her toes as she snuck through the camp, trying to get to her uncle.

Even with the wind whipping her hair around, she found his cage easily enough. The guard was asleep in the late night, so she snuck towards her uncle, careful not to make any noise louder than the wind.

"Cella!" Jaime said in a hushed whisper. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting us out." She whispered back, checking the bars for weakness. There was none. "Where's the key?"

There was just enough light for Myrcella to see Jaime nod over to the guard that was snoring against a post facing them. "On his belt."

Myrcella nodded, and walked over to him slowly as she heard Jaime whisper for her to stop. Myrcella was too stubborn. She wanted them to both get out of there. She wanted them both to go home. She wanted to go back to how things were.

She knew things could not go back to how they were.

But she still reached for the key, only to find out it was tied to his belt. With her numb fingers, she fumbled, causing the man's sleep to be interrupted, but he was still pretty far out.

"No' now Bess." He groaned in his sleep before resuming his snore.

Myrcella let out a breath onto her fingers, trying to bring feeling back to them, and rubbing them with her numb thumbs.

"Myrcella get back here." Jaime hissed at her, but his voice was faint, even to her.

She wasn't going to listen to them. She wanted to prove she was more than nearly every man had told her she was; weak, useless, just something to be bartered with. She would get her and Jaime out of here. She would prove her mother right. She would prove that she was worth something.

She was able to get her fingers to go around the key on the leather strap, and she got it free with a little tug, but that was also when the guard's eyes opened.

Myrcella's eyes reached his face the moment his hand came around and struck her across the face, causing her to fall to her side from the blow. She could taste the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

"Lannister's are escaping!" The man cried, picking up the princess by her tangled hair, causing her to cry out, grabbing his hand to make him stop pulling.

"Let go of me!" She struck her fist with the key in it, catching his nose.

"Let her go!" Jaime yelled, struggling now. She could hear the clinking of metal.

"Princess has some fight in her, huh?" The guard laughed as he threw her on the ground. She hadn't eaten in days, and she could barely feel her appendages. She knew she felt weak, but she couldn't take this laying down. It wasn't in her blood.

The guard kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She coughed as she struggled for air.

"When my family wins the war, I will make sure you are drawn and quartered." She said between coughs as she got on her hands and knees. She could hear people coming towards them.

Jaime must have seen something she didn't, because he was yelling for her to get up. To run.

It wasn't until the guard pushed her on her back and put his body on hers that she screamed, truly screamed.

"Get off of me!" She screamed, her voice hitting notes she didn't know she could. "Get off me!" She could feel him struggle to pull up her skirts as she tried to hit and kick him.

Suddenly he went still. "You heard the girl." Said a familiar voice. She couldn't believe that the Stark boy was the one to come to her rescue with his sword against the soldiers throat. Torches were lit around them now, other soldiers now there.

"The Lannisters were escaping, your grace. I was just putting a stop to it."

"I can see that, now get off the girl." Robb said, keeping his sword to his throat until he was all the way off Myrcella and she scurried back until someone else caught her, pulling on her hair to keep her head up and keeping her on her knees. She could feel blood trickle down her chin.

"Your grace..."

Robb punched the man in the stomach, causing him double-over and begin coughing much like Myrcella had. "I do not condone rape. Don't forget that next time."

"And what about the princess?" Asked Theon, who Myrcella now realized was holding her.

"Don't you touch her. Don't you dare touch her." Jaime said from his cage. He did truly look like a caged animal now.

"Take her to my tent. It seems she's a slippery one."

XXX

Myrcella was brought to his tent, though she stumbled often along the way. Candles were already lit in the tent, making it much warmer than the outside, but there was also a looking glass in there, and Myrcella almost cried upon looking at who had to be herself.

She did not look like herself at all. Her hair, though wavy had mud in it, and her face was obviously bruised with a cut across the bridge of her nose, and a bloody lip, the entire right side of her face-where she was hit-was red, or already turning purple. Her dress was in a similar state of her hair. Her lips were blue, but not from brusing; from the cold. She did not look like a princess at all. She didn't even look like a Lannister. She almost fell into a chair.

Robb came towards her with a dampened cloth, but she dodged him, pushing his hand away.

"I am trying to help you." He told her, his voice low.

"I don't need your help." She said, though that obviously was not true.

"Really? Should I have just let you get raped, then?" He asked her.

"No, because we both know if my mother or brother found out he would have the same thing done to your sister." She said. "You didn't do that for me." She dodged him coming towards her again.

"Fine." He threw the cloth into the basin of water and sat down across from her.

She took the cloth and wrung it out before pressing it to her lip.

"How did you get out of your cage?"

She didn't see a reason to lie-she knew she wasn't getting out anytime soon. "The bars were loose. When my guard fell asleep I got out."

"And you risked going to the center of camp to get to your uncle?" Robb asked her. "You probably could have walked out of here relatively easily.

"I have no money, or protection. How long do you think I would have gone before I was raped and killed?"

"Well, not all the way out of camp most definitely." He said, almost as if it was a joke.

She glared at him. "My uncle thinks you are probably raping me right now."

"Does he?"

"Are you?" She asked. "Are you going to let me clean myself up just to hurt me again?"

"No." He told her. "No I am not going to rape you. I meant what I said, I do not condone rape."

"Then what are you going to do to me? Why else would you bring me here?"

"Is that what you think of me? If it was, then why did you come here willingly?"

"If you were going to rape me, you could do it anywhere. At least here I am no longer at mercy of the wind." She said. "And I don't know what to think of you. You are not the same boy I met at Winterfell."

"What makes you say that?"

"You were kind back then." Myrcella said. "Or, at least, you put up a good front."

"What makes you say that I am not now?" He asked.

Myrcella gestured towards her dress. "I'm not blaming my face on you. I know that's not your fault."

"And that is?" He asked.

"Well, you did put me in a dirt cage."

"Because I knew you would try to escape."

"I'm not dumb enough to do it without protection." Myrcella said. "I may not know much, but I do know that."

"As you have said."

"So what are you going to do with me?" Myrcella asked.

"What would you suggest?" He asked.

"You send me home. Trade me for your sister."

"Yes, I have heard that Arya is not there anymore." He said. "How long has she been gone?"

"Since your father was imprisoned." She told him. "No one had been able to find her. Many people were looking for her."

"I am sure. They would use her as we are using you."

She nodded. "Sounds about right." She knew her mother was trying to protect her from the ugliness of war, but she also knew things just by listening to people talk when they didn't know she was there. "Except she is fed and has a bed."

"She is in a castle. You are in a camp." He told her.

"That doesn't mean I need to be caged. You already had a guard on me, just keep one on me. I can't cause too much trouble. I promise not to cause trouble."

"I am sure that we will see, Myrcella."


	4. Chapter 4

Myrcella slept in his bed that night, and he slept on the floor after he had given her something to eat. She did not run, like she promised. Of course, that did not stop him from putting a guard on her. He needed to find somewhere better to put her, but if she were in one of the tents with the men, she would probably be raped, and if she were to put her with any man he trusted she would probably be bound again.

"You're trying to keep her safe?" Roose Bolton demanded. "She's a Lannister."

"She is not unlike my sister, either." Robb replied. "She is an innocent. She didn't do anything."

"Then why was she in a war camp?" Bolton demanded. "She knows more than she lets on."

"Then what is wrong with getting her to trust us? What is wrong with us convincing her that we trust her?" Robb asked. "She gets comfortable, and she lets things slip."

Bolton nodded. "That is not too bad."

Robb began to walk away, but Bolton caught his arm. "Just keep your cock in your trousers. Whatever you do to her, it is sure that they will do to your sister, since you care for her so."

"She is safe from me. Name one other man who we can say the same about."

Bolton was silent.

"That is what I thought." Robb pulled his arm from Bolton's grip.

XXX

"I want to see my uncle." Myrcella told the guard, though she did not stand from her chair in Robb's tent. "He will want to see that I am safe."

"The king wouldn't like it."

Myrcella knew better than to argue that Robb was not a king; her brother was. That would not make her any friends, not here.

"What harm can I do? You will be able to hear our conversation. I just want him to know that I am safe."

"You may ask his grace when you see him again, but I'm afraid there is nothing I can help you with."

The guard was not much for conversation, which made her bored most of the day, since she had nothing to do. She mostly asked to walk around, wanting to stretch the stiff muscles. She was allowed to do that, at least. Though when she was looked at, she wished to hide the bruises.

She knew she was beautiful-her mother was the most beautiful woman in Westeros, and everyone told her she followed in her mother's footsteps in looks. She didn't know until now that it was painfully obvious who her mother was. She had seen bruises on her mother before...from her father.

Myrcella was never stupid, though she did understand more in the last two years. She knew at some point of her life-some point soon-she would be married off to a man for an alliance for her family.

She hoped her match would be better than her mother's-better than Sansa's-but she knew in her heart that it would be just as bad as theirs. If she was lucky, her husband would probably ignore her for the most part. That is all she could hope for.

The moment she saw Robb late that evening she stood. "I would like to see my uncle."

That caught him off guard. "What?"

"I want to see my uncle. He is worried for me." Myrcella told him, her hands clasped firmly behind her. "I won't cause trouble. I just want him to see that I am okay. And I want to see that he is."

"And what am I supposed to get in return?" Robb asked.

"Gratitude." She told him. "Gratitude I may be able to return one day."

Robb nodded. "Fine, you may see him." He turned to the guard. "I can take it from here." Robb knew she wasn't going to run-not tonight at least.

The guard bowed before leaving them.

"Thank the gods. Not much for conversation is he?" Myrcella said, as if she were talking to a friend. She knew the way to make friends was to treat them like one. Friends could help her get out of tough spots. Friends could keep her safe.

"Had a tough day?"

"In comparison to you, probably not." She said. "But it was rather dull with him for company."

"And you can talk to me?" Robb asked.

"I'd like to think so." She told him. "You're honestly the only one here from my past that will look me in the eye."

"You know my mother, and Theon." He said.

She shrugged slowly. "Yeah, but I guess you remind me of your sister."

That surprised him, and that was clear on his face. She answered without being asked to.

"She loved me when we first met, I knew she did. She was even nice after her father died...of course I see now that it was because my mother made her, but I still like to believe it's because she liked me. I mean, a week after your father's execution she began to look at me again."

"And what have you ever done for her?" Robb asked. "For either of my sisters?"

"Nothing." She said. "I know that I have done nothing for either of them. I am sorry for it. Unlike many I admit when I am wrong. I was wrong to be naïve."

"And what has brought you to this conclusion?" He asked.

"Being held prisoner myself. Having my life completely at someone else's mercy. You could have me beaten, raped, and killed, and still march on. No one would find out I was dead for a long time. Maybe long enough to see the end of the war-however it turns out." She said.

He paused for a moment. "We march tomorrow."

"May I ask if I will be on foot or on horseback?"

"Horseback, but not alone." He told her. "It would be too easy for you to try to leave on horseback."

"Have you decided who I will be with?"

"No. It will be decided in the morning."

Myrcella nodded. "All right. Now what would you like to talk about?"

XXX

"Where am I to go?" Myrcella asked as she pulled on her boots the next morning.

"You ride with me." Robb decided. He rather liked the girl-though he wasn't exactly sure why. She was nice, she was funny. She had bright green eyes and pale gold hair, and a smile that could spur a thousand soldiers to fight for her.

And she smiled when he told her that. "At least I will have good company."

Myrcella was truly happy that it would be him in front of her during the ride. She liked him, he was nice to talk to-even if he was holding her prisoner. Sometimes she forgot that was a complication. Other times it was much too obvious. Like when she moved to walk beside him there would always be a hand to either push her forward or hold her back, though it was never his. She would not admit to anyone when she got home that she liked him.

A part of her thought it was just residual from a few years ago; she fancied him then, too. But she was a woman now, no longer a girl. She knew Robb noticed as well. She caught him looking at her body more than once, but she wrote that off on being in a war camp-where women were usually scarce. She knew she was untouchable to him, and she knew he knew it too. He had to not touch her.

But she still rode behind him, holding onto him rather tightly. She didn't enjoy riding behind anyone. After a couple hours of riding, she didn't enjoy it when she was by herself either.

A part of her wished he wasn't wearing armor-he was so hard with the leather and metal. It reminded her of the kingsguard what have pulled her in front of them on horseback to get her out of perceived danger. But she did notice some things.

"There are Frey men here." She said, seeing the Frey sigil.

"Yes."

"I did not think he would take a side in this war." Myrcella said.

"He didn't want to." Robb said.

"What changed his mind?" Myrcella was honestly curious.

"Doesn't matter."

She knew she should let it drop, maybe ask him later when people were not around. He was more talkative that way anyway. She stayed quiet most of the journey. She kept looking behind her, to the thousands of men that rode and marched behind them. She knew somewhere near the back Jaime would be in a cage.

Some of her wondered why she wasn't in a cage as well.


	5. Chapter 5

"Myrcella?" Jaime was surprised to see her as she walked towards where he was held. "What have they done to you?"

"I'm not hurt." She said, kneeling on the other side of the bars. Her guard stood a few paces behind her. "They haven't touched me."

"I didn't see you at all." He said. "How did they take you?"

"I rode behind someone." She told him. "I promised I would not run."

"You couldn't if you tried, I think they proved that the other night." He said, and she could see him eyeing the bruises and cuts on her face. "Is that just from the one soldier?"

She nodded. "I still have a bump on my head from when they took me." She reached up to touch it on the back of her head where the bump was. "I'm fine. They don't hurt me."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "Where are you sleeping?"

Myrcella licked her lips slowly. "Robb Stark's tent."

She heard his chains jingle. "What?" He demanded.

"He hasn't done anything." Myrcella said. "He told me it's the only place he knows I won't get hurt."

"Seven hells, Myrcella. You cannot be that innocent."

"What choice do I have?" Myrcella asked quietly. "It's not like I have many choices in my life right now."

"You will be out of here soon enough." Jaime told her. "We both know your mother will trade you for the Stark girl."

"But will the Starks trade me for her?" Myrcella whispered. "Will Joffery let her go for me?"

"Your mother will make him." Jaime said, though he didn't seem so sure now.

"Will she?" Myrcella asked. "It doesn't matter, does it? We are stuck here however long our captors want us."

Jaime grimaced. "The only way I'm getting out of here alive is if they end the war."

"Don't say that, Uncle."

"It's the truth, Myrcella. This is war. They're not going to let me go before the war is over. I was never good at being a captive."

"What are you going to do?" Myrcella asked, her voice barely loud enough.

"Don't worry, Cella." He told her. "Don't worry at all."

That only made her worry more.

XXX

Myrcella was asleep before Robb arrived in what had became their tent. Myrcella kept wondering when she would be put somewhere else-she had to be put somewhere else. It wasn't right for her to be sharing a tent with a man she was not related to or married to. Some might think there was an affair going on between them. She was sure that they did not believe they weren't sharing a bed.

When she awoke it was a new guard in the chair. This one older. She recognized him a bit, but she knew not where.

"What is the time?" She asked as she stretched.

"Late morning."

She sighed. She wouldn't see Robb until late that night. She wouldn't be able to ask him why the Freys were with them, since he was so unwilling to answer on the ride. That only made her want to know more.

"Where are you from?" Myrcella asked her guard.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're in the Stark Army, which means Riverlands or the North." She said. "Which are you? You seem familiar to me."

"North. I've met you before, Princess. I'm Ser Roderick." He told her.

"Oh, that's where I know you from." She smiled. "I wish we could have met again under different circumstances."

"As do I, Princess." He said. "But that will not change them."

"No, I know it won't." She agreed. "But it's nice to hear, all the same. I know my brother gave you problems."

"Yes, problems."

"He's not very nice. I think we all know if he went against anyone in a fair fight they would win." She paused for a moment before laughing. "Or even an unfair one."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you not hear how Sansa's wolf died? Or how Arya lost hers?" Myrcella asked. "It was because of some fight between Arya and Joffery. I don't really know much, just that Arya won, and she scared her wolf away or something, and Sansa's was killed." She smiled slightly. "I know it's not exactly a funny story, but it was nice that someone put Joff into his place."

"You don't like your brother?"

"No one likes my brother-maybe my mother. He was never nice to me or Tommen, though. I was happy when Tommen came around. It was like being a child all over again. I used to take care of him when he was very young. He was so sweet." Myrcella looked down at her hands. "I mean, I was eight when he was born, so I was old enough to lay a claim on him."

"Your younger brother, not your elder?" He asked.

"You met them both. Which would you rather see in your training ring?"

He weighed his head back and forth, which seemed to be the answer she was going to get, and she knew what the answer was.

"I would like to ask you something." She told him after a moment of silence.

"Are you waiting for my permission?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Well, if I said no, it would make it a rather silent day, wouldn't it?" He said. "Ask away."

"How long do you think the war will last?" She asked him. "You would know better than I. You were in the last war."

He nodded. "This one is much different."

She nodded slowly. "So does that mean I will not be killed if the North sacks King's Landing? I know all the Targayans were killed. Will my family be the same?"

"I do not know." Roderick told her.

She nodded, swallowing. "Should I be praying to the gods for mercy?"

"It wouldn't hurt. But since you are not in the same situation as your uncle, I will say that it is very likely you will survive."

"I do not know if I could be the only survivor of my family. I was never good being in solitude."

"Everyone has noticed." He told her. "You will speak to whoever says a word to you."

Myrcella blushed lightly, the color just brightening her cheeks. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Rather confusing for the soldiers, really." He told her. "It makes it harder to think of someone as the enemy when they see you as a person."

"Maybe that is good." Myrcella said. "We all want the war over, after all."

"And which side would you like to win?" He asked.

"It would be wrong if I didn't say mine, isn't it?" She asked. "My entire family is over there."

He nodded. "Do you know why we are rebelling?"

"Because we have Sansa?"

Roderick shook his head.

"Because Eddard Stark was killed for treason?"

"It wasn't treason he was killed for." Roderick told her. "He would never betray his friend. He also knew one other thing."

"Which was?" Myrcella asked, not knowing wether to believe him or not. He may just be trying to turn her against her family.

"That your father isn't who you think it is."

"Oh? And who is he?"

"Your uncle."

"Liar. My father was Robert Baratheon, King of the Seven Kingdoms. I am his daughter Princess Myrcella Baratheon." Myrcella said. "I take after my mother, so what? Isn't the more preferable option? We both have seen my father."

"That is not true." He told her.

"I do not believe you." Myrcella said, forcing herself not to get upset. "If I were, then there would have to be something wrong with me. The Targaryans were mad. I am not mad. My father is Robert Baratheon."

Roderick shook his head but said no more.

Myrcella wished they had not spoken at all.


	6. Chapter 6

"So why are there Frey's in the camp?" Myrcella asked Robb as she sat on the cotlike bed in the tent after he got in one night sometime later. To Myrcella, it felt like he was avoiding her. She didn't know why he didn't outright say it. He could have just sent her back to a cage.

"We made a deal." He told her. "Rickon, Bran, and Arya all marry his children."

"And nothing from you?"

"Not exactly. I have to marry one of them as well." He said.

Myrcella folded her legs under herself. "Have you chosen one yet?" She asked, a bit curious and a bit...she didn't know the feeling really, sad?

"No. I haven't even spoken to any of them." He told her honestly. "After the war is over it will be decided."

"You are not very happy about it. Surely you will at least like one of his daughters." Myrcella said, trying to make him happier.

"Maybe. Don't really want to think about it to be honest."

"Well, think of it from their point of view." Myrcella said. "One of them will not only marry a stranger but be taken from everything they know. At least you will be able to keep your home."

"And why do you say that?"

"It's something every girl learns at some point of their lives. We are taught from a young age that one day we will be married and taken to some place we had probably never been before. Not all of us want to go." She said. "I know my mother missed her home. Sansa misses her home. I'm sure your mother misses the Riverlands. It is rare when a woman wants to get married to a stranger. It goes both ways, Robb."

"And you? Have you felt it?"

"Every moment my father wanted to marry me off. My mother was able to keep it at bay." She laughed lightly. "There were a few moments before we went to Winterfell that he wanted to marry me off to you."

"Really?"

She nodded. "My mother warned me, so in the event it did happen I would not be surprised. It didn't, as you know. My mother convinced him to make your sister a princess instead."

"Why was she fine with marrying her son, but not her daughter?" Robb asked.

"Do you really think my mother would want me to be so far away? To probably never see me again?"

"Then why are you not in King's Landing?"

"I don't know." She told him, honestly now. "She said it was to keep me safe." She didn't see a reason to hide why she was in the camp anymore. "I was on my way to Casterly Rock, for safekeeping...in case the city fell."

"Your mother is scared the city would fall?" Robb asked.

Myrcella nodded. "She tried to hide it. Everyone knows what happens when a city is sacked. We did not expect you to be so far south so soon, otherwise I am sure Jaime would not have taken us this way."

Robb nodded slowly, sinking to a chair across from her and sitting back. "If the king would have gotten his way and you would have married me, what would you have done?" He asked.

"I do not know." She answered honestly. "I am happy I was not betrothed to you, though."

"Am I that bad?" He asked, a grimace on his face.

"No, I just saw how my brother was to your sister when the war begun." Myrcella said. "I would hate to suffer the same fate."

"How do you know I would treat you the same?"

"I don't. But I would rather be safe than sorry." She told him. "Because if we were married, and a war broke out, I would be torn, or I would be standing in the wrong place."

"How would you be torn?" He asked.

"If I loved you, or cared for you. You know that feelings can develop when you are with someone a long while." Myrcella said. "I don't know. But personal feelings change too many things in a person's life. I know that well."

"How do you know that?"

"My parents hated each other." Myrcella said. "It caused them both to be so unhappy. My father was in love with your aunt, and he started a war for her. My mother was blinded by the danger she saw at home, and not outside the walls because she loves me so much." She paused. "Have you heard from King's Landing? About my letter?"

"I'm afraid the only way you are getting out of here is the end of the war."

Myrcella paused. "And what will you do with me if you win?"

"I do not know, Myrcella." He told her. "But I promise not to be the monster you fear me to be."

Myrcella looked down at her hands a moment. "That's better than nothing." She looked back up at him. "If you lose I do hope my family does not kill you."

"You do realize you are saying this to your captor, do you not?"

"But you are still so young." She told him. "You went from being a child being Lord of Winterfell to being a king in a war camp in only a few years. Would you not just like to rest a while?"

"There is no rest. There is a war to be fought." He told her.

"I know." She whispered. "Gods, trust me, I know."

XXX

"What do you miss about home?" Myrcella asked Jaime with her back to him as she looked into the clear blue sky.

"Not being in a cage." He said gruffly.

She frowned. "I know. I know."

"Have they heard back from King's Landing? About you?"

"I'm stuck here until the end of the war."

"Don't worry, we'll win it. Then take Stark's head."

"Why does there have to be war and killing, Uncle?" Myrcella asked. "Why can't we just sit around a table with a few glasses of wine and argue it out?"

"Because, Myrcella, men are beasts and you should never trust them. They will leave you with nothing."

"Even the man I eventually marry?"

"Even the man you marry." He told her. "Never trust a man."

"Even you?"

"Even me."

"But I already trust you." Myrcella said. "I trust you with my life. Mother did too."

"See, that's the thing about brothers. You can usually trust him. Except me. I got us here, remember?"

"I don't trust Joff." Myrcella said. "And Tommen is too young to trust anything with."

"You are right not to trust Joffery." Jaime said. "And Tommen is very young, but you would be surprised with what they can handle."

"I don't want him to handle anything. I want him to play with his cat and see the sunlight and the only harm that will ever to come to him will be a scraped knee." Myrcella told him. "I want him to remain a child."

"Your mother said the same thing about you when you were two."

"Then why don't they trade Sansa for me?"

"Because I am positive that your mother is not calling the shots, or if she is, what the Starks offered was not enough." Jaime told her.

"I wonder what they offered." Myrcella said softly. "Am I really worth nothing?"

"No. You're worth something. If you get married off then we have a new alliance."

"So I'm to be bought and sold as Mother warned me." Myrcella said. "It's a wonder I haven't been betrothed yet."

"You almost were, remember?" Jaime said. "To the man that is holding us prisoner."

"Right." She nodded. "Thank the gods, right?"

"I don't know. If you were his queen you could get me out of here faster."

"If I was his queen I could be dead as well." Myrcella said.

"I don't think so. The Starks take care of their own. If you married him you would probably be pregnant by now. They wouldn't take the chance of hurting their pups."

"Good to know." Myrcella frowned. "I'm still happy I didn't marry him."

"As am I, Cella." Jaime agreed. "You are much too good to be with that child."

XXX

"There's a battle tomorrow?" Myrcella asked Robb, after overhearing things around camp that day.

"Yes." He nodded.

Myrcella bit at her lip. "Then I can sleep on the floor tonight." She decided, getting off the bed, and sitting on the floor. "You need your rest."

Robb blinked, surprised again by her. "Why are you being nice to me? Shouldn't you be hoping for me to die?"

She looked appalled. "I don't want anyone to die!" She cried, jumping to her feet, and walking to stand in front of him. "How could you say such a thing? We may not be on the same side of the war, but that doesn't mean I want you to die! I've said that before!"

"Saying it and meaning it are two different things, Myrcella." He said.

"A gentleman would take a lady's word." She told him.

"I never said I was a gentleman." He replied.

They glared at each other for a moment, their bodies far too close for what was proper. She saw his eyes flicker downwards, and couldn't help hers do the same to his lips, before she turned away.

"Well, I am going to sleep." She told him, going back to the place he usually slept by the bed on the hard ground and laid there, her heart pounding.

"I-er-yes. I guess I will as well." He said.

"Good."

"Good?"

"Fine." She paused. "Goodnight, Robb." She said, her voice small.

"Goodnight, Myrcella." She could her the smile in his tone.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where is he?" Myrcella asked as the soldiers returned to camp.

"He?" Asked one of the lords-she couldn't remember which one.

"Robb." She said.

"Oh, he's probably at his tent by now. Took a blow righ' to the face. Been bleedin' everywhere since. Made it kind of hard t'-where're ye goin'?" He called after her, but she was already on her way back to the tent. When she arrived with her guard at her heels she saw Robb's squire taking off Robb's armor as he held a bloody cloth to his face.

"Well, at least your face wasn't cut off." She said as she walked into the tent. "What happened?"

"Helm got knocked off." He told her. "Nothing important."

"Really?" She asked as the last of the armor was taken off him. "Sit down." She said as she wet a cloth in a basin of water.

"What?" He asked.

"You heard me." She said. "Sit."

"I don't take orders from you." He told her.

"Then you are an idiot." She told him. "I am just trying to help."

"Maybe you shouldn't. We are on different sides of the war, you know." He told her.

"That doesn't mean I like to see anyone suffer." She nodded to the chair.

Even with the bloody cloth to his face, she knew he was scowling at her as he slowly did what she asked of him, she took the cloth she held to his face from him, and replaced it with her own.

"It seems like you'd run out of blood by now." She said, almost sounding impressed. "Don't lean back." She said as he tried to. "It's best to just let the blood out."

"Had a bloody nose before?" He asked her.

"I have two brother's. They're never gentle." She told him. "Even Tommen. He didn't realize that he can't bring his head back quickly when he sits on my lap."

"And your other brother?"

"Who hasn't been struck by their brother?" Myrcella asked. "I bet you could not name one girl in all of Westeros that has not been struck by one of their brothers."

"I can." He told her. His voice was muffled through the cloth. "Sansa. Arya got in fights with Bran too often to count her, but they didn't hurt each other on purpose. But that was equal. No one would strike either of my sisters."

Myrcella raised her eyebrows before letting them fall to their normal position. "I believe that is rare, then." She said, pinching his nose.

"Ah!" He said, pulling back.

"Do not be a child." She told him. "It helps stop the bleeding. Lean forward." She said, remembering what Maester Pycell told her to when she was in a similar position.

"Why not?" He said, his voice different with his nose plugged.

She paused. "I don't know, but that's what the maester told me to do." She told him honestly. "Now be quiet."

Robb stared up at her, though he didn't say anything.

Myrcella turned to his squire. "You can go now."

The boy looked like he was confused for a moment, before Robb nodded and he left.

"I still think you could run out of blood." Myrcella said. "Maybe you have too much blood and it's trying to escape you."

"Are you-"

"Shh. I said no talking." She told him. "And yes, I am teasing you. How much did you get in your mouth? Don't answer that. You can rise that out of your mouth later. I loathe the taste of blood, myself. It makes me gag." She paused, wondering if enough time had passed for her to release him. Slowly, she released the pressure on his nose, and no blood came gushing out. She grinned proudly. "And my septa said I was too busy daydreaming to pay attention to anything. Ha!" She took the rag away from his face, and folded it to a clean spot before rubbing the blood off his face. "You're lucky your nose wasn't broken." She said, but she did see plenty of bruises on his face, One black eye, another bruise on his opposite cheekbone. A busted lip.

"And did your brother break your nose when he struck you?"

"No." She said slowly. "It doesn't look crooked, does it? I always thought it was rather straight."

"Your nose looks fine Cell-Myrcella." He said, catching himself.

"Were you about to call me Cella?" She asked him.

"No."

"I think you were." She told him. "Only a few people are allowed to call me that."

"And who are they?"

"Tommen and Uncle Jaime. Tommen couldn't pronounce my name when he was young, and Uncle Jaime caught on rather quickly. Father sometimes called me Mycella."

"And what was your favorite?" He asked.

"I don't know. I think it always depended on how they said my name." She told him, careful to keep herself busy with her self-given task of cleaning him up, but his dirty hand covered hers, before slipping up her arm. She looked from his hand to his eyes, and she didn't know if it was him pulling her down, or her leaning down.

"Robb!" Catelyn called from behind them, making Myrcella jump back with wide doe eyes. "Might I speak with you a moment?" She asked her son.

"Yes, of course, mother." He said, before looking at Myrcella. "Where is your guard?"

She grimaced. "I lost him a few hours ago." She was good at that. The kingsguard were much harder to lose, and she made that a pass time when she was bored.

He closed his eyes for a second before opening them. "Go see your uncle." He told her, knowing a guard would have to be there. "I will find you, or send someone to find you there later."

She nodded once, before giving him the cloth and quickly leaving, with Catelyn's glare on her the entire time.

When she got to her uncle's cage, there wasn't a guard very close to his cage at all, in face, there was a group that looked to be talking forty feet away. She knew she could talk to her uncle truly. He was looking rather bad, with a straggly beard and dirt caked onto his skin.

"Where's your guard?" He asked her.

"Lost him. Robb sent me here."

"First name basis?" Jaime asked.

Myrcella licked her lips as she nodded. "Yes."

"Anything else I should know? Because you seem to be winning some of them over."

Myrcella looked around, before looking back at her uncle. "I want to go home. I want us to go home."

"And there is no word from your mother on getting you back?"

"They're not letting her."

"They?"

"I don't know who. All I know is apparently a princess for a princess isn't a fair trade."

"So you agree that Robb Stark is a king?"

"His men call him so. Isn't that what makes someone a king?" Myrcella asked. "I want this war over."

"It won't be for a long time, Cella."

"I know." She said.

"But if they're trusting you, we could get out before the war is over." Jaime said.

"What do you mean?"

"Is anyone around?" He asked.

Myrcella looked around again. There was no one, so she shook her head. "No."

"Make sure that you permanently do not have a guard." He told her. "And then every so often disappear for a little bit. Get a dagger, and leave the camp. Say you followed a butterfly or something, but always come back. You have to always come back."

Myrcella nodded. "Okay."

"Agree with them, but not too much. Hear what they have to say, and argue, but not too much. Make them think you're going to their side."

"How?"

"Be your usual sweet self." Jaime told her. "The rest will fall in place, but listen to me."

She leaned forward, listening intently.

"Do not lie with the Stark boy. Your mother will never forgive me if you get pregnant by him."

She nodded.

"Promise me." He told her. "Promise me, Cella."

"I promise." Myrcella said. "He can't marry me anyway."

Jaime shook his head. "He wouldn't marry you before. Maybe after. Don't let him. Then I cannot get you out of here, or if I do, it would be just stealing another thing that is his."

"I'm not a horse." Myrcella said.

"Doesn't matter. You would be his wife." Jaime told her. "That makes you his. We would not only have his sister in King's Landing, but his wife as well. That would only make the war go on. Do not get involved in a way you can never get out of."

Myrcella nodded. "Okay. I'll just figure it out then."

"Hey, with the rate you've been going at we could get out of here in a month." He said.

"Don't have too much faith in me. I will not hurt anyone."

"I am not asking you to. That's my job." Jaime said.

"I don't know if I can do this."

"I know. I am sorry that I am asking it of you, but we don't have a choice." Jaime told her. "For all we know it is do or die. We don't know what will happen to us here; what will happen to you."

"I know." Myrcella nodded before looking down. "I will do my best."

"I know you will. I have faith in you. Just do what your mother would do."

"I don't know if I could."

"You can. There's more of her in you than you know."

"Yes," Myrcella agreed. "I must be as strong as her to survive this, don't I?"

"That's right, Myrcella. Maybe one day you will be a queen like her."

"Only if my brothers die." Myrcella said. "I don't want anyone to die. Not even Joffery."

"Even if that will make you queen?"

"Yes."

"Then you are not as much like your mother as I thought." Jaime said. "You used to want to be queen."

"Not if it causes death for my brothers." Myrcella said. "I can't wait to see Tommen again. I will see him again, won't I?"

"You may, but no one knows the future." Jaime told her. "We need to get out of here, that's all we both know."

Myrcella saw movement out of the corner of my eye. "Someone's coming." She whispered, before saying at normal volume. "I do miss Tommen so much."

Jaime nodded, understanding what she was doing. "I know. You will be with him soon. Like you never left."

"What if we are here for a long time? What if he grows up without his elder sister to guide him?" Myrcella asked. "I rather enjoyed keeping him from our elder brother."

"I know you did, Myrcella." Jaime said. "Wait, there's blood on your hands. What happened?"

Myrcella turned her palms up, they were lightly stained with blood. Robb's blood. She closed her palms into fists. "Robb was bleeding." She said, turning her hands so the back of her hand faced the sky.

Jaime's jaw tensed. "All right, then."

The man who was walking towards them stopped."Myrcella." Theon Greyjoy said.

Myrcella looked up. "Yes?"

"I heard you lost your guard." He said. "I'm afraid I'm much harder to lose."

"Yes, I'm sure many women have tried." Jaime said from inside his cage.

"Shut it, Kingslayer." Theon snapped. "I think you have had enough family time for today, don't you Myrcella?"

Myrcella knew better than to disagree. "I would like to get the blood off my hands." She released her fists, feeling the sticky-ness of the blood on her skin. She looked up at him with big eyes. She knew how to widen them to make her look younger, like a child.

He nodded for her to get up. "Come on, then."

Myrcella looked at Jaime. "I'll see you."

"I wager you will."

XXX

Myrcella was moved to Catelyn's tent to be watched by the older woman. Myrcella wondered if this is what it was like for Sansa when she was with Cersei. A watchful eye, critically looking over her for every flaw she may have.

So what did Myrcella do? She smiled, learning from all of Sansa's mistakes and triumphs that she now saw so clearly. It was all a game. All of this. And it was one-like Sansa-she had to make it on her own. She barely had the help of her uncle to get through it. She had to gain the trust of them, and then slip away into the night.

"Sansa misses you." She told her.

"She told you that?"

Myrcella shook her head. "No. But if she loves you half as much as I love my mother I can promise she feels it. If anything, I would say she loved you more."

Catelyn just looked at her.

Myrcella knew she wanted to ask more about her daughter, but her pride kept her from it. Catelyn really wanted to hate Myrcella, and Myrcella knew it. But, Myrcella never wanted to be hated, and she wouldn't stand for it either. She wouldn't let someone hate her because of her family. There is good and bad in every war. Myrcella mostly saw the bad as the hurting and killing of other people.

"What are you intentions with my son?" Catelyn asked. "You know he is betrothed, don't you?"

Myrcella nodded. "I do. I have no intentions with him. The only intention I have is to return to my home to what is left of my family." She told the older woman. "Just as I am sure you would like to do as well."

"Do not compare yourself to me." Catelyn told her.

"Why not?" Myrcella asked. "Do not tell me that you are enjoying this war, because no one enjoys war."

"That does not make us similar."

"Fine. Then let me compare myself to Sansa. I am being held captive until the end of the war. I have been beaten. I have almost been raped, though Sansa has not gone through that. I must be calm and non-confrontational for fear of being struck. We both have guards on us, not for our own protection, but for fear we will do something to harm the plans of our captors. I can actually list a few more things I have gone through and she hasn't, if you like, including being caged."

"Are you saying my daughter is not caged?" Catelyn asked. "Because, I can tell you that the castle is just a bigger cage than you were in."

"Then she was in a cage with a feather bed and servants to dress her and brush her hair. She has good food, and at least she knows that her family is fighting for her. That the North is fighting for her. I know that my mother is the only one that would care if I should die." Myrcella countered. "She knows this war was started for her, her father, and her sister, and now it's just her and you are still fighting. We both know one of our sides will win, but what we don't know is which one will it be."

"Thank you for stating the obvious." Catelyn said sarcastically.

"You are very welcome." Myrcella replied, in the same tone Catelyn had used. "Either way we are stuck together for who knows how long. What do you think it will be like if all you do is hate me?"

"I can handle it." Catelyn said. "Your family killed my husband."

"I didn't have a part in that. You kidnapped my uncle."

"I he tried to have my son killed."

"No, he did not. Tryion would never do such a thing." Myrcella said with confidence. "And you took him, you didn't bring him before anyone, you just took him. That is what started all of this, so before you blame me take a look into the looking glass. See what the reflection tells you."

Catelyn glared at Myrcella.

"You were nice to me once." Myrcella said, her voice quieter now. "Do you remember?"

"Of course I do. It was all courtesy." Catelyn told her.

"Do you remember how Sansa loved me? How excited she was that she would become a princess? She was so in love with my brother...until she realized why no one else could stand him."

"And when did she realize that?"

"When my brother broke his promise to have mercy on her father." Myrcella said, remembering that day. She was shielded from the sight, but she did remember Sansa fainting. She did remember her screams. Myrcella didn't faint, but she did remember the commotion. How her mother reached her arm around her, and pulled her head into her neck to shield her. "We didn't think he would die. I don't think any of us did, well, except Joffery."

"And then you know about your parentage?" Catelyn asked.

"Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister." Myrcella said. "Anything else said is a lie."

"Really?" Catelyn asked. "Because you look nothing like your father."

"Neither does Robb, really. All red hair and blue eyes." Myrcella said. "Does that mean he is the child of you and your brother? There is no way to prove any of it. So your rumors, they don't bother me. You are trying to shake my faith in my family, and myself. How would you react if I did the same to you?" Mycella always knew how to get herself out of things-or how she always won arguments.

"Are you scared that it is true?" Catelyn asked her. "That the man you call uncle in a cage out there is actually your father?"

Myrcella shook her head slowly. "No. I am not." And she wasn't. She didn't believe it to be true; if it was she was sure she would be dead by now. It was just a rumor to try to humiliate her family and diminish Joffery's claim to the throne.

"Then you are a fool." Catelyn told her.

"That's fine. But no one can say that I am easily talked into a lie."


	8. Chapter 8

Myrcella lost her guard, and snagged a dagger on a belt that was just lying around. She attached it around her hips, where the weight of the dagger made it sag on her right hip. She ventured outside the camp, but was never stopped by anyone.

She walked through the trees, before finding a small meadow where the sun was able to shine through the trees. Flowers were blooming. Myrcella always thought they were something that would be around in spring and winter, not autumn.

Still, she picked them, figuring she could at least do something with her time. She knew how to make flower crowns, and flower necklaces. Her mother taught her when she was very young.

Little white and yellow flowers were braided together until it was a rope of flowers, and she decided it was enough time for her to go back, as she struggled to fasten the ends together.

She was given some trouble when she got back, and brought before Robb, her flower crown still in her hands, through the dagger was taken from around her hips.

"What do you think you were doing?" He asked her when the soldier who brought her in left.

"I needed some alone time." She told him. "Kind of hard to get when I have your mother breathing down my neck whenever I am in her tent."

"You lost your guard."

"I came back." Myrcella defended, getting on her toes to put the flower crown on his head. "It's not like I was hurting anyone."

He took it off. "What is this?"

"I crown you the queen of love and beauty." She told him, smiling.

"You are ridiculous." He told her, but she knew he was trying not to smile at her.

"I have been told." She said simply. "Honestly though, I cannot stand someone breathing down my neck so often. Especially when I do not know if they would protect me if it came down to it."

"Then what would you have me do?" Robb asked.

"I would ask you to give me a knife," she pointed to the one in his hand that used to be around her waist. "And trust me not to run."

"I don't trust you, though." He said.

"Ah." She held up her finger to stop him. "But you like me. Don't deny it. I know you like me."

"How do you know that?"

"Because as much as you could make my life hell, you are not." Myrcella said. "And if you suddenly start, I know you're just trying to cover it up."

"Will I be that transparent?"

"Ha! So you do admit it." Myrcella grinned. "Well, that's good to know."

"Why is it good to know?"

"I don't know yet." Myrcella said.

"Then why does it matter."

"If I can get who is supposed to be my enemy to like me then there has to be hope for peace, doesn't it?" Myrcella asked.

"Yes, if you were queen I am sure we could work something out." Robb said.

"Really?"

"Yes, just as you say, with a few glasses of wine." He told her, smiling slightly.

"How would it end? I would probably give you the North if you asked for it." Myrcella said. "It would be hard to keep control of it if it does not want to be apart of it."

"The real question is, how would you like it to end? You are the one preaching about peace?"

"Well, it would be best if we were able to keep our families as intact as possible, would it not?" Myrcella asked. "You and your men go north with your sister...maybe both if you can. My uncles would be with me in King's Landing."

"That seems a fair enough trade."

"But, there would have to be a peace treaty signed." Myrcella said. "And a promise not to start another war. If there be issues between our kingdoms we take care of them, meeting somewhere on the border."

"What? You wouldn't let me come to King's Landing?"

"You couldn't take the heat." She told him. "Our summers are like your winters. Unbearable for those who are not used to it."

"So would you die in our winter?" Robb asked her.

"Most definitely. I have never been good with the cold." She ran her hands over her covered arms. "When we were at Winterfell last I was so cold at night I would sneak into my mother's bed and sleep with her."

"She didn't mind?"

"No." Myrcella told him. "You think she's a monster, but she isn't. Not to me. She loves me very much. Like all mothers love their children."

"Really?"

"Really. I'm sure that it is because of her that I am not married yet. She always said I was better than to be bought and sold. I know she didn't want it, and now she is trying to protect me from it as well."

"You really would never want to marry me." Robb said, clapping a hand to his chest. "That's a hard blow."

"Says the man who is already to be married." Myrcella said. "I at least have not been bought and sold yet. We both know you have."

"I thought only women could be bought and sold?" Robb said.

"You are a special case." She said. "And I did name you the queen of love and beauty."

"Does that make you a knight?"

"No way, I'd die in a moment." Myrcella said. "I think I'll stick with being a lady. We tend to live longer than our husbands."

"Sadly for my sex, that is true more often than not." Robb agreed.

"Sorry about that." Myrcella said, smiling slightly. "Now, I believe I have taken up too much time already. What would you like me to do now, my lord?"

"Go back to your tent and do not ditch your guard again."

"If I do, would you punish me?"

"Just go, Myrcella."

XXX

_"__Remember, Myrcella, you are a lion." Cersei told Myrcella. "Lions are not afraid of anything."_

_"__I thought I was a stag." Myrcella replied. "Is that not my father's sigil?"_

_"__Be thankful that you have none of your father in you." Cersei said, embracing her daughter. "For stags are easily caught. Lions will never go down without a fight."_

Myrcella gasped for breath as she awoke, curling on her side, and bringing her knees to her chest. The things she had been told around the camp were twisting what her mother had told her in her head. She was Robert Baratheon's daughter. She had to be...otherwise she would be killed for sure. Her, her mother, her uncle, and her brothers. Dead the moment another took the Iron Throne.

It was a lie. It was all a lie. Just as she was trying to be free, they were trying to shake her confidence in her family. Whether it was to give secrets that they thought she had-and didn't-or just so when she did return home that she would cause trouble there. They were trying to use her, trying to control her.

She wouldn't let them; she couldn't let them.


	9. Chapter 9

"Put that girl back in a cage, Robb." Catelyn told her son. "One day when she runs off she won't come back, and if she dies out there the gods know what the Lannisters will do to Sansa when they find out."

"She's not going to run off without the Kingslayer." Robb told her, not looking worried.

"Speaking of him, you should keep him better guarded." Catelyn said. "No one knows half the things that have been said between them."

"I know exactly what has been said between them." Robb told her.

Catelyn paused a moment. "What have you been doing, Robb?"

"Haven't you noticed that there are plenty of hiding spaces by the Kingslayer's cage? Plenty of room for someone to be listening at all times, especially when Myrcella goes over there. Thank the gods the Kingslayer can't turn all the way around to see what lies behind him."

"You've been listening in?"

"And know exactly what they're trying to do." Robb said. "We both know that neither would have said anything to us. It was the only way to see what was going on."

"And what have you found out?"

"That even though her parentage is being question she hasn't asked him about it." Robb told her. "She's questioning it."

"You want her to come to our side." Catelyn translated.

Robb nodded. "What better way than giving her a small bit of freedom. I always had an eye on her, even when she leaves the camp. I was rather hoping that you would be nice to her and see if you could gain some of her trust."

"You should have told me, then."

"There are ears everywhere."

"And how do you know she's not listening now?" Catelyn asked.

"Theon's with her. Told him to keep her as far away as possible." Robb said. "She will be here at some point, though. She always likes to stop by."

"I think she's trying to seduce you." Catelyn said.

Robb shook his head. "No, she wouldn't. She's just trying to gain my trust. The only thing that seems to stay constant no matter who she speaks to is she doesn't like to see harm come to others."

"She's naïve."

"Yes, nearly a blank slate, I would say, besides obviously loving her mother." Robb said. "She doesn't know the Cersei the rest of us do."

"And how are you planning to make her see the one the rest of us do?"

"I think she needs to listen in on a few meetings, I think she needs to hear what her family is doing."

"How will that happen?"

"Accidentally, of course."

XXX

Myrcella was able to ditch her guard again, but this time she simply went back to her tent, wanting to be without a pair of eyes on her. She knew where Catelyn kept a looking glass, and took it, wanting to look at herself for a good long while. She had to have some of her father in her somewhere, or at least something of her father's family.

Gods, how she wished her eyes were blue to prove her parentage. How she wished her hair was ebony. Then no one would try to dispute her-or if they did, they would probably name one of her uncles as father, and that would be absurd. Cersei hated Stannis, and Renly was a boy when she was born.

She looked so much like her mother-too much like her mother. Gold, and very consistent in her color palate, not the contrast that her father's black hair had with his light skin.

Myrcella was lying if she didn't want to tell her uncle about this-but she was scared of how he would react. She was scared that he would tell her that it was untrue and have it be a lie. She was scared that he would tell her it was true.

And as she looked in that looking glass, she could see nothing of Robert Baratheon in her.

It couldn't be true. She had nightmares of it being true. She had nightmares of her mother and uncle being put on trial for it. She had nightmares of being put to death for her mother and uncle's sin.

To escape the fate she knew she would hold, she had to go to her grave swearing Robert Baratheon was her father, even though she now doubted it herself.

_"__What do they say? That every time a Targaryan is born the gods flip a coin." _She could hear her mother say in her head, remembering a time when she was taught about the histories of Westros.

"The gods would flip a coin." Myrcella whispered, her fingers grazing her reflection. Joffery was mad, Myrcella knew that much. She didn't think she was mad, but she could be wrong. Tommen was definitely not mad. He was sweet, like any child should be. He was caring. Instead of dissecting a cat, like Joffery, Tommen would feed and play with them, even if he sometimes got scratches for it.

"Two out of three." Myrcella muttered. "Maybe one out of three." She decided, before she heard someone coming towards the tent, and jumped up to put the looking glass back in Catelyn's things before sitting back on her cot, placing her hands in her lap.

Catelyn walked in. "Where's your guard?"

Myrcella shrugged. "I do not know. Perhaps I should go find him."

"Wait." Catelyn said. "At least let me braid your hair. It looks rather messy."

"You don't have to be nice to me anymore." Myrcella said, walking passed her. "As you said, my family killed your husband." With that Myrcella left.

Myrcella didn't go find her guard as she said she would, but went to see her uncle instead. She hadn't seen him in a while, and she hoped a guard wouldn't be close, but when she got there she found one sleeping. It was a common occurrence for her. She wondered if they were given milk of the poppy before they were given the job.

"Have you any news for me?" Jaime asked her. "I haven't seen you in a while."

Myrcella shook her head. "No. Nothing new."

"Did you come to talk about the weather, then?" Jaime asked. "It's getting colder sadly. Winter is coming, like our captors say." He grimaced at his own quip.

"Yes, they are always right in the end, aren't they?" Myrcella said. "I would like to be in King's Landing by the time it hits, though."

"Don't you worry, Myrcella. We have some time before winter truly hits." Jaime told her. "I will do my best to have you home much sooner than winter."

Myrcella felt a sudden rush of courage. "Uncle?"

"Yes, Myrcella?"

Suddenly the courage disappeared. "Nothing."

"What is it, Cella?"

She shook her head. "I just hope you're right, it all."

Jaime looked at her a long moment. "So do I, Cella."

"I have to go now, I think my guard will find me soon enough."

Jaime nodded. "All right."

And as Myrcella walked away, she felt that if the rumors she feared were true, she could have a worse father. In fact, looking back on it all, Jaime was the closest thing to a father she had-Robert Baratheon spent too much time drinking and whoring to spend any time at all with her. The daughter. The tradable child. She wasn't a son.


End file.
